But he was afraid to check in as he could not utter a word in English. So, he got hold of somebody to help him check in the hotel.
Once he checked in, the entrepreneur in him instantly realised that the hotel could be a great address for his business.
At Rs 200 a day, he stayed there for almost three months, but made sure that his laundry and food were managed outside to keep the cost to the minimum.
Now, 51-year-old Anil Agarwal, founder and chief executive officer of Vedanta Resources Plc, does not make any fuss about eating at five-star places.
We are at Kandahar, the Indian restaurant at The Oberoi, overlooking the Arabian Sea. The last three decades have changed him dramatically. The scrap dealer of the 1970s is the uncrowned non-ferrous metal king of India with a turnover of close to $ 2 billion.
But his approach to business has not changed.
Today, he owns a 20 million pound sterling home at Mayfair in central London.
